NIAS Researcher Aki Tonami participated in the international panel of experts at the "Arctic 2014: Who Gets a Voice and Why It Matters" at The Wilson Center, Washington DC.

Tensions over security, access, and environmental impacts in the Arctic are rising. While members of the Arctic Council (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United States) assert their established rights under new circumstances, an increasing number of non-Arctic states (including China, Korea, Japan, and Singapore) seek an active role in the region.

In part 1 of this series, “Focus on the Arctic,” an international panel of experts describes why one of the world’s coldest environments is becoming a hot topic.

Guests

Heather Conley, Center for Strategic & International StudiesMarlene Laruelle, George Washington UniversityRobert Huebert, University of CalgaryWilly Østreng, Norwegian Academy of Polar ResearchAki Tonami, University of CopenhagenAnne-Marie Brady, Woodrow Wilson Center and the University of Canterbury, New Zealand

On May 21 2014 Aki Tonami gave a presentation at the "Arctic 2014: Who Gets a Voice and Why It Matters"at The Wilson Center, Washington DC.

The event was co-hosted under the Wilson Center’s new Polar Initiative by the Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, Asia Program, Canada Institute, China Environment Forum, Kennan Institute, and Global Europe Program and featured analyses analyses by:

Ms. Heather A. Conley, Center for Strategic & International Studies, on U.S. Arctic PoliciesDr. Marlène Laruelle, George Washington University, on Russia’s Arctic PoliciesDr. Robert Huebert, University of Calgary, on Canada’s Arctic Policies:Mr. Willy Østreng, Norwegian Academy of Polar Research, on the Arctic Policies of Nordic statesDr. Aki Tonami, University of Copenhagen, on Arctic policies of Korea, Japan and SingaporeDr. Anne-Marie Brady, Woodrow Wilson Center and the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, on China’s Arctic Policies

The 7th Annual Nordic NIAS Council Conference was hosted by University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Sønderborg 4–8 November 2013. The theme for the conference was ”The Power of Knowledge: Asia and the West”. It was co-organized by SDU’s Negot in Chinese/Institute of Design and Communication at University of Southern Denmark, and the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS).

Abstract:There is a growing awareness in the Nordic region of Asia’s increased interest in the Arctic region and Arctic affairs, including in relation to Greenland. However, with the possible exception of China, there has been little Western scholarly work to analyze exactly why Asian countries are interested in the Arctic. Looking at the Arctic engagement of Japan and Singapore, this paper finds that their interest in the Polar Regions is not necessarily a new phenomenon and that Arctic policy, as with the development of other foreign policy objectives, is a complex mix of national, bureaucratic and group interests. For Greenlandic and Danish policymakers, it may be useful to understand the genesis of Japan and Singapore’s Arctic policies and that their interest is complex and multi-faceted.

Professor Min Dongchao is being interviwed by Mai Corlin, Ph.D. student, Aarhus University for ThinkChina.dk

Gender inequality is not simply the unfair treatment of men and women. It is a complex issue tied to a whole range of disparities in society at large, argues Professor Min Dongchao, who has just been awarded a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship and will be a guest professor at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies for the next few years. Her object of study is the travels of gender theory between the Nordic countries and China.

NIAS researcher Aki Tonami on 19 February 2013 participated in the "Stockholm Arctic Seminar: Asian Arctic expansion? Non-Arctic states and the Arctic Council" where she presented the paper "Japan's Arctic policy: the sum of many parts".